With Sprint’s Nexus S 4G receiving update, is Google Wallet support next?

This week on Monday, the Nexus S 4G smartphone was supposed to receive some important update from Sprint, according to a picture posted on SprintFeed. While the Android update called GRJ90 doesn’t bring anything shocking, it should deliver a couple of new features and much needed fixes. One of the things that caught our attention is the NFC (Near Field Communication) support. Considering that Nexus S 4G was to the first handset supposed to receive support for Google Wallet, Google’s wireless mobile payment solution, the fact that the phone will eventually get the NFC support may give us a hint that Google Wallet is next.

Google Wallet uses NFC for contactless payments, and according to Google, the first trial is going to be available sometime during this summer. With this feature, the company intends to transform your gadget into a virtual wallet to improve shopping for both consumers and businesses. You are going to be able to store your credit cards, loyalty cards offers or gift cards, carrying only your phone.

 

When you will make a payment, your phone will also automatically redeem offers and earn loyalty points for you. Someday, Google plans to allow clients to pay for things like tickets, boarding passes or store ID’s and keys with Google Wallet. They just want this to be the start of a transition to a mobile shopping future, where buying is easier and safer. In order to make this feature work in U.S, Google teamed up with MasterCard, First Data, Citi and Sprint.
While the GRJ90 update doesn’t say anything about Ice Cream Sandwich it does bring some improvements like:

• WiMAX settings Widget
• Tuned signal strength indicators
• Enables the NFC Secure Element
• Improved Speakerphone audio quality, WiFi Connectivity, 4G throughput and signal acquisition.
• TTY Support
• NI Push Support

The GRJ90 software was slated to arrive on July 11, but it was delayed for unknown reasons. This is definitely not the kind of news fans were looking since there is no word yet on the new ETA. You should know that Nexus S 4G is not the only Sprint gadget who’s having problems with its upgrades, as the Samsung Transform was scheduled to get an update, with the build number EF09. Now it looks like that firmware release has been postponed as well. It wouldn’t be a surprise if these updates will come unannounced soon though.

Source: sprintfeed